Part I:
THE AGE OF INNOCENCE
"....how shall I explain? I - it's always so. Each time you happen to me allover again."
~Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence
One
Wendy Thomas sighed as soon as she exited off the interstate, anticipating how good itwould feel to get out of the confines of her car and really stretch. She'd been on the road for thebetter part of the day with minimal stops.
Better yet, I'll just shower and hit the sack, and unpack tomorrow. Yeah, much betterplan.
Something caught her eye in the rearview mirror, and she turned to look over her rightshoulder to see a car barreling past her on the exit ramp toward the turn lane. She edged her carfarther to the left protectively. "What...?"
The car passed and entered the turn lane, barely stopping to check traffic beforespeeding on.
"Idiot," Wendy said under her breath, clenching her jaw in anger and disbelief.
One thing I didn't miss--Milwaukee's insane, defensive driving. More likeoffensive! She'd lived in Milwaukee all her life and she'd learned to merge, dodge,edge out, rev on the line like a race car driver, shoot forward and barrel down with the rest ofthem. But it'd been nice for a little while to be in a town where everyone drove the speed limit,sometimes slower, and actually obeyed safety and traffic laws instead of creating their own, likethose in Milwaukee, so they'd become the rule instead of the exception.
This morning, This morning in the cabin, while she and the other female counselors hadpacked their things, she'd felt a twinge of sadness at the end of her summer job. She'd been awayfrom home for a little more than a month, teaching at a camp for blind children in a small townin Nebraska. At eighteen, she'd been the youngest counselor in the program, but she'd garnered alot of high recommendations from her previous volunteer work.
Even now, remembering the children and her peers, Wendy smiled sadly. She wouldmiss everyone. They'd formed a strong bond, even though she'd learned from experience todetach herself slightly or drown. She'd helped the kids, in some small way, to lead moreproductive, happy lives. In a way I can never help those I know, she added to herself,her thoughts on her mother and her best friend, Jessie Nelson.
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